Paws For Thought

A low, soft whimper caught Alex's attention and she glanced down to see big, soulful brown eyes gazing back up at her.

"I know bud," she murmured gently, setting the small handheld games console down that she had been playing on, then with both hands fondly petted and made a fuss of the black dog whose head was currently resting in her lap. He was a black dog, with a small patch of white under his chin that looked like a little goatee, a white throat and belly with a few little black spots and four white socks with black spots.

And he was her dog.

Her dog she had adopted two years ago after finding him wandering the streets when she was out on a routine mission. She'd taken him to the vets who had identified him as a whippet/lurcher crossbreed (though they couldn't be 100% certain), and when they were unable to locate any tags or chips to confirm his owners, he was declared officially homeless. One look into those huge brown eyes and Alex had melted, declaring on the spot, there and then, that she would take him.

She'd still been grieving over Maggie after all. Their breakup was still fresh and raw, leaving Alex in a deep pit of despair from which she couldn't seem to pull herself out of and an equally deep hollow where her heart was. But as soon as the dog had approached her in the street and licked her hand when she'd slowly held it out for him to sniff, she knew then that he would look after her. He would give her all the attention and the love that she was lacking. He would become her emotional support, and he would save her just as much as she was going to save him.

That night, as she'd let the dog wander and sniff about the place to get used to his new surroundings, she'd grabbed her laptop and moved over to the sofa to see what she could find online for him (though their earlier trip to the pet store had been fruitful).

It was only then that it dawned on her that he didn't have a name, either, so she'd run through a list of the first ones that came to her mind. He'd completely ignored Thunder, Hunter, Bullet, Rex, Storm, Ranger and Rocky, had paused but only for a second when she'd suggested Dash or Speedy and she was met with a totally blank look when she'd tried Bambi (because he was somewhat deer shaped).

Almost ready to give up and start Googling "dog names" in sheer desperation, she'd noticed the way his head bobbed up and down a lot, especially when playing. So for lack of a better idea, she'd tried "Bobby" and his head had immediately turned towards her, his ears perked, tail upright, the hints of a wag just starting as he tilted his head, his gaze quizzical and curious.

She knew then that she'd found his name, and he had been a huge part of her life ever since. He had become her emotional support, her companion and her best friend. She couldn't imagine her life without him now, and Alex's love for her dog had even eclipsed Supergirl's love of food... which was unheard of, yet nobody could deny it.

This love had only grown (if that was even possible) recently after a particularly nasty run in with an alien had left Alex with a fractured tibia and her leg in a cast for weeks. Bobby had become her constant shadow and followed her everywhere, curling up beside her with his head in her lap when she sat on the sofa, lying in the huge empty space on the bed beside her when she slept at night, following her into the kitchen and sitting beside her wounded leg when she made meals and even sitting right outside the bathroom door and crying until she came back out, which... okay this last one was infuriating and just once she'd love to pee in peace, but overall he was content to just be in the same room as her, even when he was amusing himself with his toys or one of his chews.

He whined again, breaking her from her thoughts and she sighed. "I know, Little Man. Aunty Kara's gonna be here soon. She'll take you to the doggy doctor, and they will make you all better, I promise. Mommy would take you herself, but..." her voice trailed off as she glanced at the plaster cast around her leg which was currently propped up on the footstool as she tried to keep it well rested.